FireFall Vol. 12: Women Who Name Things
How to Respond to Disrespect, Glass Walls, Women Religious Leaders in Japan's Christian Century, Mini Courses, Lutheran Women's Work in Religion, Dr. Sandra Glahn
Welcome back! Please click the triangle “play” button above for on-the-go audio of FireFall. (It’s a little long because I went a bit “off script” at the end.)
I hope you’ve been able to stay healthy and well – my household included a family member with a nasty case of Flu over the holidays. I could say a lot about the benefits of Corsi-Rosenthal boxes, high-quality portable air purifier filters, using distilled water in humidifiers, and getting enough rest, but if you’re sick you can’t focus on it, and if you’re well it probably doesn’t seem that urgent. Just take care of yourselves out there! You matter to us.
God, You reveal Yourself in Epiphany and epiphanies, and I pray for all who minister in and to the Body of Christ. May my sisters enter the new year emboldened to name things well:
to see the real and true, to recognize it, know it, and name it, and name Who You are in the middle of it. Give them the desire, focus, discernment, community, prayer life, wisdom, and courage to do this and to do it well. Our church and our world need leaders to name things unflinchingly. Show them what they can name that others may not yet have the insight, vocabulary, clarity, hardship, or peace to name yet. Let them lead others in the grace of receiving what You name them. Amen.
Listen: How to Respond to Disrespect at Work with Janeen Uzzell
From the Making It Work podcast on God and work from The Max De Pree Center for Leadership and the Theology of Work Project at Fuller Theological Seminary, this fantastic podcast episode features Janeen Uzzell; it’s hosted by Leah Archibald and Mark Roberts.
From the Theology of Work website, the podcast summary queries: “How do you respond when you’re being overlooked, misunderstood, or even mistreated at work? Your situation might leave you feeling angry, drained, or overwhelmed. Your performance suffers. You may wonder, ‘Where is God while I’m going through this?’ What should you do? How can you discover the story God is writing for your life, amidst adversity at work? Guest Janeen Uzzell is the CEO of the National Society of Black Engineers and former COO at Wikimedia, after 18 years of working in technology at GE. A global strategist and STEM leader, Janeen is experienced at building and managing inclusive teams, and she’s going to help us work through this question of how to respond to being mistreated at work.”
Excerpts from the transcript include these quotes from Janeen Uzzell:
“I'm trying so hard to live my life without regrets, but I regret not speaking up for myself sooner in my life and in my career.”
“I'm still working on healing from the disappointments…working on being authentically open to understand the environment, and then trying to ask God for the spirit of discernment to know when I should be a bit more robust with my boldness...many a time I'm not calm. Now, in the conversation, I'll be calm but then catch me in the bathroom a few minutes later, calm not so much. But I take those situations just as seriously because even though maybe I didn't present one way in front of people, which is good, I still feel like, ‘God I wanna honor you in all of this,’ so even when I'm in the bathroom and I'm mad.”
“I remember saying to God, ‘I'm so tired of being angry.’ Now, disappointment is just as exhausting…but I'm like, ‘Lord, you have me here. I wanna walk into these environments after all of these years in the workplace with nothing to fear, nothing to hide, nothing to lose. And I would challenge others that hear this, to think the same, and to come from a place of kindness and goodness…My advice is to be intentional about surrendering and just leaning into or letting go, so that you can rest in the things that God has for you.”
Listen (and access transcript) at Theology of Work here or listen at Depree here or simply click play on the embedded podcast episode below.
Watch: Glass Walls, Leanne Dzubinski and Amy Diehl
This brief but powerful conversation is between the authors of Glass Walls: Shattering the Six Gender Bias Barriers Still Holding Women Back at Work, a 2023 book on gender bias in the workplace. The publisher’s note describes it as, “a new, important, and richly detailed guide to understanding gender bias with practical solutions for leaders, workplace allies, and individual women.”
Watch or listen – in under 15 minutes, Dr. Dzubinski and Dr. Diehl name dynamics that you’ll probably recognize but maybe have struggled to articulate, and they share core study findings that shape their work in this book. Previously at Biola University, Dr. Dzubinski is now Professor of Christian Leadership and Director of the Beeson International Center for Biblical Preaching and Church Leadership at Asbury Theological Seminary.
The authors describe quickly recognizable dynamics that are a still a bit of a gut-punch to hear named as common patterns. “That’s just so-and-so.” “That’s just my one-off, personal, anecdotal experience.” No, sometimes it’s much bigger than you. Diehl and Dzubinski will equip you to name it so that you can better navigate it and more effectively discern the environment you’re in.
Watch or listen here: https://faculti.net/glass-walls/
Spotlight: Women Religious Leaders in Japan’s Christian Century, 1549-1650 (Women and Gender in the Early Modern World), by Haruko Nawata Ward
If you’re looking for a deep dive – did you know you can rent some academic-tilting books that are often (sadly) harder on the wallet to purchase? if you don’t have access to an academic library, that’s an option – where was I?
If your church history reading had some gaps or you’ve got some continuing education budget at your disposal, there’s so much amazing research out there.
Here’s just one example, a book from 2016 by Dr. Haruko Nawata Ward, Professor of Church History at Columbia Theological Seminary in Georgia. Her CV is a treasure trove, and Women Religious Leaders in Japan’s Christian Century looks fascinating.
(Now if you’re in the pulpit right now, not the academy, you may be tempted to think this looks interesting but doesn’t have explicit relevance for your overflowing to-do list.
So I’ll just say this: any time I’ve read outside the scope of my current job, my current job has always benefited from it. Your problem-solving gets more creative, your assumptions shift, you’re able to connect with a broader range of people more easily, your preaching gains dimension and heft.)
Mini Courses, Micro Credentials, and Training: Exploring Dynamics of Women in Church Leadership
Are you looking for ideas or resources to engage women exploring a call to ministry?
Are you looking for models or resources for your leadership team to explore the subject of women in church leadership?
Check out a few tools created by seminaries, leaders, and organizations:
Free: Northeastern Seminary online mini class - Women’s Journey into Leadership and Ministry
Led by Prof. Carrie Starr, this includes four weeks of independent work along with two Zoom calls. “The journey to ministry and leadership can be fraught with unanticipated barriers and challenges. Together, men and women will examine the barriers women especially face when pursuing ministry and leadership roles. Through engaging interviews, study, discussion, and reflection, students will map a path forward in their journey to more fully participate in God’s kingdom work.”
Free: CBE International’s Common Questions about Women and the Church
Christians for Biblical Equality International offers paid courses, but “Common Questions” is a free resource. Visit the link to review detailed course content on “common questions about women’s leadership in the home, church, and workplace.” Login to access course material for free.
Access some of CBE International’s paid content on Fuller Seminary’s platform, which includes:
Egalitarianism: Women in the Church, an approximately five-hour module available for $15.
Egalitarianism in Practice, an approximately ten-hour module available for $25.
Fuller Seminary + Missio Alliance: Now What? Empowering Women Leaders
Missio Alliance offers “Now What?” through Fuller Seminary, which is an approximately 21-hour module available for $70. Meant for individuals or groups, in “Now What?” “J.R. Briggs and Mandy Smith guide you through a deeper understanding of female leadership in the context of the church and how leaders can address some of the challenges that inhibit women from developing their leadership gifts while creating pathways for service in the church and beyond.”
(Also, subscribe to Missio Alliance email newsletters for info on their 2024 Sustaining Women in Ministry Cohort!)
Browse: Lutheran Women’s Work in Religion; Dr. Sandra Glahn’s Online Library
There are so many great resources online! Put these on your radar:
The Lutheran Women’s Work in Religion webpage is a great searchable online resource and research tool, but it’s also a low-key model of how a denomination can celebrate the research and scholarly work of women in the academy. (Cough cough, other denominations/traditions!)
Click a category or search by author, title, or keyword at the Lutheran Women’s Work in Religion page here.
Meanwhile, Dr. Sandra Glahn – yes, the “Artemis book” Sandra Glahn – has been publishing at academic and lay levels, and her recently remodeled website has a great search function for her deep archives – I might call it a library. You can search by category or year in the drop-down menu, use the search bar, or just start scrolling back through to see what catches your fancy.
Visit here to browse the Sandra Glahn archives/library at her website.
In the coming weeks, I’ll share some Lent resources by women.
Thank you again to Pastora Daniela for volunteering her time and skills to translate FireFall resources into Spanish!
If you haven’t yet, be sure to check out the page featuring 2024 conferences for women in church leadership and higher education.
Thank you for supporting this effort to amplify the voices of women leading in the church and academy! My goal is to connect you with practical resources, encouragement, community, and scholarly research, whether or not you have the resources to travel to conferences or buy a lot of books. Ministry can be isolating, but you’re not alone; it can be challenging to cut through online noise and algorithms, but your voice matters.
Please share this weekly newsletter with women you know ministering in congregations, denominations, and higher education.